Description

Midwives care for all women, those who are well, informed, have a chronic illness

or disability and those who are vulnerable. Vulnerable women especially those who

are pregnant and use illicit drugs however are often seen as challenging and can be

cared for poorly, often stigmatised and marginalised. Illicit drug use especially in

women who are at reproductive age is increasing, with poly-drug use being most

common. Successive Australian governments have a harm minimisation stance

towards drug use, but in the social media punishment and distain are still prevalent

towards illicit drug users. The wombat in the room is a metaphor for the nonacknowledgement

of the issue of pregnant women and illicit drug use. The midwives

who work with these women have been silent on how they manage and care for these

women. This study aimed to examine and develop an understanding of the

phenomenon of midwives experiences of caring for pregnant women who use illicit

drugs.

Hermeneutic phenomenology underpinned by Heidegger's philosophy and

Gadamer's methodology was chosen to frame this research. The researcher was

seeking a deeper understanding of a particular phenomenon. Heidegger specifically

encouraged the consideration of our own 'Dasein', so that the 'other' and 'others'

were seen and, thereby, 'others' lived experiences were illuminated. Data was

generated with twelve participants, who shared stories of their experiences of caring

for pregnant women who used illicit drugs. The researcher used an approach

developed by Lindseth and Norberg (2004) inspired by Ricoeur (1976) to

thematically analyse the data.